Thanks to his days at the University of Alberta, Derek Ryan knows the Clare Drake Arena like the back of his hand, can cruise down Whyte Ave., and find his way around Edmonton no problem.

But Calgary? Not so much.

So, when Brad Treliving invited him to the city to convince him to join the Calgary Flames — during the National Hockey League’s free agency “courting period” — and the two had met with head coach Bill Peters (Ryan’s former coach with the Spokane Chiefs and Carolina Hurricanes), the general manager handed things over to the unofficial mayor of Calgary.

“I was up this week for a visit and spent a lot of time with Craig Conroy, he was showing me around the city,” said Ryan who signed a three-year deal with the Flames on Sunday, a pact worth an AAV of US$3.125-million. “I obviously spent a lot of time in Edmonton but I don’t know Calgary all that well at all. Conroy was showing me around the different neighbourhoods and where a lot of the players lived and where you’d live with kids and where they’d go to preschool.

“That starts now, for sure. We’ll start the preparations to move to Calgary.”

Contrary to popular assumption, the affable assistant general manager was not the only charm that won over the 32-year-old right-shot centre who was sought after by several teams, including the Toronto Maple Leafs.

What sold him, in the end, was the opportunity.

Ryan comes to Calgary billed as a versatile asset who can help their possession off the face-off circle, having finished eighth (56.5 per cent) among players that had taken 900 or more draws last season.

He’s able to play special teams and gives them some added offence among their middle six forwards, having scored 15 goals and 23 assists in 80 games last year.

“It was one of those things where you write down a list of those possible destinations and the pros and cons,” explained the five-foot-11, 170-pounder who has 153 games of NHL experience. “And you make a list about what’s most important. Obviously, I’d done a lot to get into the situation I was in so I wanted to make sure it was for the right term and the right money. But, at the same time, opportunity was the most important.

“We felt like Calgary was a great fit for me being able to move in and be a middle six forward, move up and down the lineup, and produce from anywhere. It’s a playoff team in my opinion right now. It’s a team I’d love to have success with and win with. “

Ryan’s journey to the NHL is unique one.

First, he realized a childhood dream of playing for his hometown Spokane Chiefs, winning a Memorial Cup with now current Flames head coach Bill Peters. He played for the University of Alberta Golden Bears and graduated with a Bachelor of science in human physiology with plans to become a pharmacist.

Ryan went overseas to play professional in Austria for three years, then Sweden for a season before returning to North America to toil in the American Hockey League with the Charlotte Checkers.

He made the jump to the NHL, making his big league debut at age 29. Ryan stuck around for six games in 2015-16, then 67 games in 2016-17 and finally 80 games in 2017-18.

Fast forward to last week, which saw a handful of NHL teams giving him the full wine-and-dine treatment.

“Not in my wildest dreams did I expect to have a week like I had this week, where there were quite a few teams expressing interest and saying great things about me as a hockey player and me as a person,” Ryan was saying on Sunday. It was nice to be recognized in all of those regards. I mean look at my journey — what a convoluted journey to the NHL, the path never traveled. And here I am, a Calgary Flame for the next three years. It’s an exciting time for my family.”

Over the summer, Ryan and his wife Bonnie will move their two youngsters, Zane, four, and August, one and a half, to Calgary.

“He’s an impressive man,” Peters said. “First time I met him, he was playing junior hockey, a Spokane native. He was really the start of the foundation that won the Memorial Cup in 2008. Doc’s been a good player for a long time and has done it in multiple leagues. He gives our organization versatility. He’s got a great young family … he’s went on an unconventional path and earned everything he’s gotten. Full credit to what he’s done as a player.”

(For the record, Peters explained that the nick-name ‘Doc’ comes from his initials: D.R., a moniker given to him by teammates in Spokane)

The Flames nearly acquired Ryan last year at the NHL trade deadline and had been interested in him for a while.

“This is a player we have pursued the last probably year and a half, prior to Bill coming here,” Treliving said. “Obviously there is a connection there, but this isn’t Bill Peters showing up here and trying to pack Derek Ryan in his suitcase and bring him along. He has elite hockey sense, thinks the game extremely well, and just touches a lot of parts of the game. A great faceoff guy. Can play up and down the lineup. He can play the wing. Can play the middle. Can play on your power play. Can kill penalties — he didn’t do that a lot in Carolina but has the ability to do it.

“So the versatility, the versatility to move people around. Quite frankly, we didn’t do a good enough job last year in having enough people that we could move around. Derek gives us that.”

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